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A surge in the popularity of niche and boutique beers has made global brewers sit up and take notice. Beer drinkers in Western markets are turning away from mass-produced lager brands. Dow Jones's Simon Zekaria reports. Photo: Reuters

LONDON—A surge in the popularity of niche and boutique beers has made global brewers sit up and take notice. Beer drinkers in Western markets are turning away from mass-produced lager brands such as Heineken, Stella Artois and Coors and opting for the richer flavors, quirky ingredients and striking aesthetics of independently-brewed craft beers.

Sales of craft beer in the U.S. rose 12% in the first half of the year, according to the U.S.-based Brewers Association, or BA. In Europe—the birthplace of the wheat beers and India Pale Ales that inspired the U.S. craft beer movement—interest in American craft breweries is also growing. Export volumes of beer from U.S. craft breweries—defined by the BA as "small, independent and traditional" and with production of less than six million U.S. beer barrels—to the region jumped 52% in 2011.

"I think it part of a wider societal change. People are becoming much more aware of flavors," says Stuart Howe, head brewer at Sharp's Brewery in the U.K., best known for its Cornish cask ale Doom Bar.

Mr. Howe's Sharp's Brewery was acquired by Molson Coors Brewing TAP -0.57% in 2011 for a reported £20 million ($31 million), making it one of the latest craft brewers to have been scooped up by the brewing industry's heavyweights. While the Big Four brewers—Anheuser-Busch InBev NV, ABI.BT +0.18% SABMiller SAB.LN -0.64% PLC, Heineken NV HEIA.AE +0.22% and Carlsberg A/S CARL-A.KO -0.75% —have splashed out with billion-dollar deals for local breweries in fast-growing emerging markets, in their home markets in the U.S. and Europe they've been acquiring craft brewers to counter anemic sales for their traditional lagers, which have been by depressed by weak economies and a shift among drinkers toward wine and spirits.

Research group Demeter forecasts that in the U.S. craft beer will continue to steal business from the mainstream to reach between 10% and 12% of the market by 2015, compared with around 5% at the moment. "Sales of craft brewers are growing double digits as restaurants and other retailers are improving their beer selections because their customers are interested in craft-brewed beer," said Paul Gatza, director of the BA.

In the U.K., which has a famed tradition of stout and ale brewing going back centuries, the number of breweries, mostly classified as small or craft, has almost doubled in just over a decade to around 945 at the end of 2011, says Neil Williams, communications manager for the British Beer & Pub Association. While only 2% of the U.K. market, craft still equates to 270 million pints of beer a year.

"There is no question that the [craft] trend is accelerating. The big boys are definitely brainstorming about how to stop the microbrewery tide rising against them," said Spiros Malandrakis, an analyst at Euromonitor International. "[Craft brewers] take chances. The flavors, packaging and branding tend to be much more forward-thinking."

The results so far have been promising, albeit they represent just a slice of the companies' revenues. MillerCoors LLC—the joint venture between SABMiller and Molson Coors—launched its craft and import division Tenth & Blake in 2010. The unit posted double-digit growth in the year to March 31 through a roster of brews including Belgian white Blue Moon and Leinenkugel's.

"Craft beer is a massively growing phenomenon, in the U.S. particularly," said a spokesman for SABMiller.

SABMiller now houses niche beers like Fat Yak and Beez Neez through the Matilda Bay brewery, following its $10 billion acquisition of Foster's last year. AB InBev, maker of Budweiser, has distributed the craft brands of Goose Island since 2006. In March last year, it acquired the famed Chicago brewer, maker of Belgian abbey ale Pere Jacques and Honker's Ale, an English-style beer with a fruity aroma, for near $40 million.

One selling point for craft beer is that it is a higher-priced and high-margin luxury that consumers are willing to pay for as they seek unique, localized and regional products with a story behind them. Support for craft beers also has the halo of helping out local businesses, a plus during tough economic times, analysts say.

Still, acquiring craft brewers can pose a commercial conundrum for the beer giants—the brands might no longer be considered craft and fans may turn their back on them for "selling out."

Mr. Howe, the head brewer at Sharp's, knows sustaining the brand's heritage will be key to its success as it embarks on a plan to treble its capacity in the next two years, backed by Molson Coors' investment and a magnified distribution platform.

"When the acquisition went through, initially there were some negative comments. But we are still Sharp's. We have still got the sales team here who ring up with a Cornish accent. We have retained our identity," Mr. Howe said.

SABMiller has taken a different tack to circumvent this puzzle through its deal with Belgium's Van Steenberge brewery, which has links to a monastery and sells St Stefanus beer. SABMiller isn't taking an equity stake in the brewery, but will instead provide its global distribution network to boost the brewery's sales.

The big brewers are also setting up their own home-grown craft brewers that use nontraditional ingredients. Carlsberg, after opening Backyard Brewery in Falkenberg, Sweden, this year to experiment with new brews, is due to roll out a craft-style amber lager called the Lawn Mower in October, replete with grassy notes.

The biggest craft breweries are fending off the giants with innovation of their own. Boston Beer Co., SAM +0.08% the U.S.'s biggest and oldest craft brewery, said two Samuel Adams beers will be distilled into whiskeys, giving it exposure to the growing spirits market. The maker of beers like Finnish rye-and-juniper-flavored Norse Legend says craft distilling follows the sector's traditions and meets consumer demand for artisan products with local provenance.